Getting Married in Maryland, USA

September 12, 2014

We’ve had a very unorganized planning of our wedding. I’ve never dreamed of having a white and grand wedding plainly because I don’t see the point on spending a huge amount of money for just a day. I’d rather spend it on something else like I don’t know, probably traveling the world? LOL.

Exactly my thoughts

Our wedding was all sorts of things before it actually materialized into something the husband and I would like. We wanted something quick and stress-free and there’s no other place of doing this kind of wedding other than the USA. Seriously, getting married in the US is very easy. They don’t require ridiculous and unnecessary certificates that you need to get from government offices which will take you practically the whole day or maybe even more (if you’re from the Philippines, you know what I mean). The only thing that they required from us was *drumroll please* our passports since we do not have social security numbers as we’re not residents of this country. I kid you not.

The next day after we’ve arrived in the USA, we immediately went to the Clerk’s Office Circuit Court For Frederick County to get our marriage license. Basically, you need to get the license from the court of the county that you intend to get married in. I chose Frederick county purely because according to google map, it was the nearest to my mother’s house. I told you we were very unorganized. Lol. Thanks too for google map because Frederick turned out to be a very quaint part of Maryland. It looked so beautiful and charming that it felt like we’ve walked in a movie set when we arrived. It reminded me of some of the European medieval cities.

We arrived at the circuit court a little after noon and we were extremely surprised that it was very clean, quiet, there was no queue and the lady who attended us was smiling, friendly and seemed to love her job. We’re not used to seeing all these in a government office from where we are originally from (Greece and Philippines).

“Please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?” said the lady.

We promised to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth with God’s help so she immediately started on with the formalities, basically just asking us of our details. Name, age, place of birth, address in the US etc. etc. After finishing the form, she handed over the print out, made us review it, collected our payment of USD75 and issued our marriage license. The whole process took no more than 10 minutes. AMAZING! We walked out of the circuit court completely bedazzled with the efficiency and friendliness of a government employee’s service. It was truly out of this world for both myself and the (then) boyfriend. A very straightforward process which worked well for me.

Getting the marriage license was practically what I’ve only done for my wedding. Everything else was arranged by my wonderful sisters. While the fiance and I were traveling around New York and Washington – my sisters were busy arranging the reception, booking my hair appointment and also choosing hair styles for me, ordering flowers, booking the photographer etc. etc. They’re awesome and I’m very lucky to be their little sister. * cheeky grin *

Important notes:

The marriage license can be used 48 hours after it has been issued.
The license is only valid for 6 months, after such time that license will expire and if the couple were not able to get married within the 6 months time then they’ll have to reapply for a license.
The license is only valid in the county where it was issued. Ceremony must take place in the same county.
The fee of USD75 is only payable by cash and this fee varies from county to county.
Civil ceremonies can also be performed in the circuit court between 8:30 am to 4pm, there is no need for appointments. You’ll just have to walk in the court on the day of your wedding but we were advised to be at the court no later than 3:30pm just to be on the safer side.

8 Comments

[…] that we will have our lunch there as we thought it fits our dining requirements to a tee. So after getting our marriage license and buying our wedding rings, we went on our way to Black Hog BBQ and Bar. It didn’t […]

[…] mainly because both the husband and I doesn’t have the time to do all those preparations. When we found out that getting married in the US only requires for you to show a valid ID, we immediately decided to do the civil wedding there. However, my lovely sisters cannot and will […]

Pinay,
Congratulations to you and your husband!!
You have had so many changes in your life other the past year. Leaving Dubai after so many years must have been difficult. Also, my condolences on the passing of your father.

I have not written to you much over the past year but I still enjoy your blog! I first discovered it about 3 yrs ago. My first exchange with you a few years ago dealt with proper etiquette in dealing with stinky people! LOL Your responses had me laughing for days!!
I currently live in Pennsylvania and know Frederick and the DC Metro quite well. There are many cool places to visit with a few hours drive. You, your husband and mother live in a very nice area and I sincerely wish you all the best here. Welcome to the USA!!

It’s been awhile since I’ve heard from you. Thank you for your wishes. I am currently here in the US just for vacation, my husband already went back to the Middle East and I will soon join him in about a month’s time, maybe two. I love Frederick and DC! We’ll be exploring more of Virginia and Maryland in the coming days and in two weeks, I’ll be going to the West Coast.

Oh hello!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Noemi, a Filipina who caught the travel bug at an early age and has never been cured. I blog about travel, food and my extraordinary mundane life in London with the Greek Mister.